Sunday, November 16, 2014

American Gods (5), Neil Gaiman

Shadow is days away from being released from prison. Days
away from seeing his beloved wife Laura when he gets the phone call. His wife
has died in a car crash with is best friend at the wheel. But time ticks on and
Shadow is still released from prison, but where to go? What’s the point
anymore? Enter Mr. Wednesday, who hires Shadow to do…odd jobs. Like, really odd
jobs.

(Spoiler alert?) Mr. Wednesday is old. Like, centuries old.
Like, used to be a god worshipped by thousands. When settlers came to America,
they brought their gods with them. Now, these abandoned gods are left to live
as best they can, hunted by the new gods.

This book was crazy. I don’t even feel like I can rate it
because I feel like if I give it less than a five it means I didn’t “get it” the way everyone else did. It was also super weird to read after The Ocean at the End of the Lane which feels so innocent and simple by comparison. American Gods is dense and awesome. If you’re ready to hibernate
for the winter with a giant, creepy book, this one’s for you.

Fun fact, Neil Gaiman was on NPR's Ask Me Another last week. It was hilarious and reminded me about how adorable his British accent is. I wish he read all of the audiobooks I listen to. He also mentioned that, when people ask him what American Gods is about, he replies, "oh, it's a big book," because he doesn't really know how to explain it. Which makes me feel a lot better.